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Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Amid the financial turmoil, many are keeping an eye on their grocery budgets. Even Rachel Ray the queen of 30 minutes meals, stressed the budget friendliness of one of the recipes in her recent episode. I think it certainly reflect the concerns of many audiences these days.I also notice that a few bloggers are talking about budget planning lately, so I decided to try and make a meal under 10 dollars and see what we could get.

Here's the result. For under 10 dollars, this was what we had for dinner last night- Hainanese Chicken rice (rice not shown in picture + chicken), Stirfry Shanghai Bokchoy and a claypot tofu with shiitake mushroom. And it's good for 5 servings. I has a sudden craving for mum's hainanese chicken rice after reading the Wednesday Chef's homemade hainanese chicken rice. So naturally, that was on the menu of the night. Although a side of stirfry shanghai bokchoy would round up the meal nicely, I went on to make a claypot tofu. I just wanted to try out my newly acquired korean soup pot.Lately, We are obsessed with tofu soup, and have been visiting the same tofu house for the past 3 weekends. But more about that in another post. Meanwhile, I know what you are going to ask- How did I do that for under 10 dollars.

Here's the breakdown:rice- $2.40Tyson Split chicken breasts with bones - $3.00 (it's going on discount at Kroger this week, with only 0.99/pd)tomato (0.89/pd)- $0.60Shanghai Bokchoy- $1.60Tofu- $1.00/blockdried shiitake mushroom- $0.50miscellaneous condiments- $0.90 (it is actually lesser than this, but I want to round off the figure to make it 10 dollars. At this point, OCT rolls his eyes)

In case you are wondering how the plate of chicken is going to serve 5, there's one whole breast that was not shown in the picture. After the dinner, OCT packed the leftover for lunches, and he told me that they were enough for next 3 days. May I add that OCT is a big eater, despite his skinny frame?(life is unfair!)So take his words for it- 5 servings it is!

Authentic Southeast Asian meal for only 2 dollars per serving; and the smile on my satiated husband's face- Priceless.

No recipe for today, but we love the hainanese chicken rice so much that I think that I might make it again this weekend, (while the discount of chicken breasts last, of course). I will try to measure all the ingredients use next time.So, what's your meals stategy? Do you adhere to a budget? Let's share!

Rachael Ray has actually started a segment in her magazines where she shows several different meals for under $10. I haven't tried any of them, but they all look good!! I wish I had a great way of saving money, but I know I need to start budgeting!

Sorry for the late comment, but I completely missed this post! What a great dinner you put together for under $10! The chicken looks amazing. Another example how eating well doesn't have to cost a fortune.